Word! My start was spending hours at Nike outlets a couple times a year to find hidden gems - my parents had the right idea, best strategy for growing kids. I’d get 1 pair of running shoes for $50 and one pair of SBs for $30 and then wear them to shreds haha. Love the generic SB models. I dig the Seinfeld jeans and trainers look but for me it was Back to the Future that put me on retros.

I’m over Jordans as well but it’s not really my choice - just finally realized I’m a slim person and look absolutely ridiculous with huge shoes on haha. I still have to get rid of some 2s - really enjoyed the collab concepts from last year so got 3 pairs of 2s alone 💀 (I’ll keep the A Ma Maniere, those are such a unique style)

Word, I’m definitely into 80s styles, but I suppose everyone is right now! I got into sneakers in the 2000s, so I guess I see simple 80s color blocking as a rejection of that tech-y look that was everywhere (basically, I’m anti-Shox). That busy 90s Pippen look is not for me I’m afraid, even if they were half the bulk haha.

Megatron Trainers, Camo and Chimera Pippens… my brother I’m guessing you’ve been collecting for a looong time to be developing such a strong style haha, love it

That’s not quite accurate - Tinker designed the Air Trainers as a cross trainer for himself to wear to the gym. McEnroe got it in a bin of samples and wouldn’t take them off - they literally weren’t given a chance to design the shoe for him. In hindsight I cannot believe dude played tennis in these hahaha shoe technology was truly atrocious in the 80s.

I see you’re a fan of Trainers though, big respect! Wasn’t familiar with the Megatron but that’s a unique CW

Right, I can only describe it as a kitchen sponge insole that sinks onto a concrete midsole haha. I’m not flat-footed, but I would describe it as great for lifting, even alright for standing, but not so comfortable for long treks

Air Trainer 1 Chlorophyll, and Air Trainers in general. If I could go back and do it again, I’d be swiping them off discount instead of throwing thousands of dollars at Jordans that look way too bulky on me

It’s really just social media. Our ratio of seeing pristine shoes to seeing worn shoes has gone dystopic - everyone will share a pic of their new/cleaned kicks in perfect lighting, but the only worn shoes you’ll see are in person, and you may never see certain shoes in person. When you google a shoe, you’ll see hundreds of promo pics on models with perfect lighting, and that’s our idea of what the shoe is, never mind that the white will be a dusty yellow in a few months.

The other factor is that sneakerheads have so many pairs that individual pairs don’t age. A pair of Js worn every day for 3 months by a kid can literally be more worn than the same pair that’s been on a sneakerhead’s light rotation for 10 years. And guess which of the two will share pics of the shoe

Hahaha it’s you and your roommate again. Look man I also have some degree of OCD (which luckily improved a bit as I aged), and I ended up with a fiancee with ADHD whose brain literally cannot follow rules. She is biologically an asshole to people like us.

My advice to you is pick your battles. If you freak on him daily about his relatively clean shoe touching your black Converse beaters, how are you gonna top that when it matters? Eventually, he stops listening. Yes, in an ideal world, he wouldn’t be doing this. But the world’s not fair.